Big thanks to Jane Sherman and Seattle Met for this fun shoot with Seattle Seahawks big DE Michael Bennett. I am a huge Seahawks fan (ok, who in Seattle isn’t right now…), so making a portrait of one of my favorite players was an exciting opportunity. Thanks also to Michael and Pele for letting us set up a studio in their home. Go Hawks!

Congrats to my friend Catherine Giudici on finding love on The Bachelor. It became official last night, so I thought I would share a fun outtake from our recent shoot together. Very excited for Catherine and Sean Lowe. Hopefully I can share more of the images in the near future. There are so many great shots!

Ryan Lewis in the house ya’ll. I recently posted one of my portraits of Ben Haggerty a.k.a. Macklemore, and now it’s time to share a portrait of his creative partner Ryan. They are in the middle of success that very few people ever experience, and this Saturday you can see them on SNL. Congrats guys!

I’m so thrilled with this portrait. I have wanted to shoot something with this type of feel for a long time, and it turned out so great. Big thanks to Gigantic Squid for the retouching.

It seems like forever ago now, but I actually played football in college until a shoulder injury sidelined my aspirations of reaching the NFL. I mostly played free safety, but I also moved to defensive end in my last season. Needless to say, photographing athletes is something I really enjoy, as it get’s me back out on the field to some extent.

Here is a quick snapshot I found from back in my college days. But back to Derrick Coleman, because that’s really what this is all about. Most of you have probably already seen the incredible Duracell commercial about his fight to get to the NFL, but if you haven’t or if you want to watch it again, here it is. It makes me emotional every time I see it. So good.

“What you know ‘bout rockin’ the wolf on your noggin
What you knowin’ about wearing a fur fox skin” – Macklemore

What a fun shoot! I had the chance to work with Macklemore (Ben Haggerty) and Ryan Lewis 2 days before their new album “The Heist” came out and they headed out on tour. It was an incredible day, and some amazing images resulted. This being my favorite image. I think… Ahh, I don’t know, there are so many I like. Yeah, this is my favorite. Big congrats to the guys on Thrift Shop going platinum, as well as the incredible success they are having in general. You guys are making Seattle proud for sure. If you haven’t already heard The Heist, you should definitly check it out. One of the best albums to come along in a while, and obviously the music story of the year. I’m a fan.

I’ll post more images from this shoot when I can in the near future hopefully. For now, I’ll leave you with this. Represent!

Here is the first behind the scenes video of Arrows by Fences featuring Macklemore. This is so fun to watch for me because the last 2 months have been such a blur. As you can see, all of the sets were built in a warehouse and shot on green screen. Ian Hubert, Nate Taylor, and Ian Goode did such an amazing job bringing this to life with stunning imagery and VFX. I hope you enjoy it.

“Arrows” by Fences featuring Macklemore and produced by Ryan Lewis. Directed by Jason Koenig and John Keatley. It’s hard really to put into words what I am feeling right now. We literally just finished working on this video and I haven’t had time to clear my head or process what has just happened. It has been 2 solid months of hard work for so many talented people, and I am incredibly proud of what we all created. First and foremost I want to thank Fences, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, my co-director Jason Koenig, and my wife Nichelle and our kids.

It goes without saying, but this has been an amazing opportunity that I am very grateful for. I also made some wonderful new friends along the way. It is worth mentioning that the sets for Arrows were all built in Seattle. Pre-Production, casting, filming, and all post production was done in Seattle. Seattle pride! I hope you enjoy the “Arrows” music video as much as I enjoyed working on it. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for lots of behind the scenes pictures and videos.

I have directed a few small film projects in the past few years, but what a project to get thrown into the ring on. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. This is just the beginning. John Keatley – Director / Photographer. I like the sound of that.